Swamped hospital tells patients to 'go back to Burnley'

8:40am Thursday 28th August 2008

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By Camilla Sutcliffe »

PATIENTS were told to drive to Burnley in the early hours if they wanted to be seen more quickly after the Royal Blackburn Hospital’s urgent care centre became overwhelmed.

Dozens of people, including children and elderly people, were waiting for treatment on Monday when staff said the urgent care centre at Burnley General Hospital was clear and they should go there to reduce further waits.

Councillors said the incident was further evidence that changes to emergency medicine in East Lancashire had not worked.

Patients, some of whom had been waiting more than the four-hour maximum, called the situation “a shambles”, adding that staff had seemed unable to cope.

But the hospital said that while the urgent care centre was fully staffed, the large number of people accessing the service had resulted in delays and they were giving them ‘an alternative’.

Emergency services in Blackburn and Burnley have been at the centre of controversy since the traditional accident and emergency departments at both hospitals were broken up on November 1 last year.

They were replaced with “walk-in” urgent care centres at both sites, with a single “A&E” department in Blackburn, taking all ambulances from across the region.

Councillor Darren Reynolds, who helped produce the Burnley and Pendle “dossier” of complaints against East Lancashire Hospitals, said many patients chose to travel to Blackburn, where they had the extra reassurance of an on-site emergency department.

He said: “No matter how well the trust explains what services are available, any reasonable person who doesn’t know what is wrong with them would consider playing safe and going to Blackburn.

“If they don’t, and they do need emergency department or in-patient treatment, they face waiting at Burnley to be seen, waiting for an ambulance to Blackburn, and waiting again to be seen at Blackburn before they get anywhere.

“This problem will continue until we get the full service back at both hospitals.”

Sandra Harkness was there with her 79-year-old father Joseph Nightingale, of Manxman Road, Blackburn, who had a suspected broken ankle.

The pair arrived at the centre at 11.30pm on Sunday, and Mr Nightingale was not treated and discharged until 5.40am on Monday - more than six hours later.

Mrs Harkness said: “The staff were brilliant when we finally got dad treated, but there simply weren’t enough of them. It was beyond a joke.

“We had already been there four hours when a nurse came out into the waiting room and said that anyone who had transport would probably be better going to Burnley because it was nearly empty over there.”

She added: “I’ve complained to the hospital, and been told the casualty manager will ring me back, but that’s not what I want - they just need to make sure these things don’t keep happening.”

Burnley Council leader Gordon Birtwistle, said: “It is an Accident and Emergency department at Blackburn, so if someone is ill, it is an emergency to them and they are right to go to go there - whether it is an emergency in the eyes of the hospital is another matter but the sensible thing to do is to go to the nearest Accident and Emergency department which is now in Blackburn.

“It is absolutely scandalous - the department in Blackburn is only just big enough to cope with the people from there, so to expect them to deal with another 250,000 to 350,000 people from North East Lancashire is scandalous.”

Burnley MP Kitty Usher added: “People are wrong in thinking that there are not good facilities at Burnley and that is why they are going to the wrong place - there is an excellent Urgent Care department.”

Dr Geraint Jones, medical director for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust confirmed the centre had been very busy with more than 80 patients visiting in an 11-hour period.

He added: “In an attempt to help people be seen quicker we reminded patients there was an urgent care centre in Burnley if they were able to get there, as waiting times were much lower. This was merely offered as an alternative to waiting – during periods of high demand for the Urgent Care services we keep people fully informed of how long they will wait and suggest other ways in which they can access healthcare which may be more appropriate and quicker for the individual, for example seeing their GP - however this was not an option due to the Bank Holiday.”

Mr Jones said that urgent care centres should only be used in situations where medical attention is needed right away and people should consider using GPs or minor injury units and NHS Direct.

The urgent care centres at Blackburn and Burnley treat non-emergency admissions including broken limbs, burns and minor ailments. Emergency treatment is provided by the A&E at Blackburn, which accepts all blue-light ambulance emergencies.

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